April Flu's Day

The latest trend of waking prior to 5:30am continued again this morning. It’s morphed into some what of a cat & mouse game between me and my Blackberry alarm. I make it downstairs, let’s say around 5:25am and take my meds and start my exercise. Meanwhile, I’ve got the Blackberry at my side waiting to acknowledge the alarm that sounds promptly at 5:30am. You can’t acknowledge it early. Most mornings it’s tucked neatly in a cabinet resting in the key basket. There, it’s only audible from close proximity. But honestly, as I write this, I am not even sure why I have the alarm set. I don’t use it for waking.

I was hopeful that the day would be clear. I already knew that it was going to be much cooler as the day went along. And once again, it was cloudy. After exercise Ykraps and I set out on our walk. It was a nice morning for a walk. The temperature hovered near 53 degrees.

Mindy was knowingly staying home from school again today, but now with both kids. Jacob developed the same dry cough and flu symptoms that Bella has. Brother Craig foresaw this and mentioned as much to Mindy when she took Bella in on Monday afternoon. Anyway, Mindy asked that I wake her just before my run so that she could tend to my lunch.

I went about my quiet time with little reason to hurry. I had plenty of time. After PC and meditation, I dressed for my run then delivered Mindy’s coffee. I hit the streets a few minutes early. Because it was warm, I didn’t bother with ear covers or gloves. If anything, I was still a bit overdressed. My run went well. It was fairly bright by the time I finished, even with the thick cloud cover.

Mindy was up when I got back. She had my lunch packed but hadn’t yet started our eggs. But that was OK. I was more than happy to make breakfast, and got started on it right away. I made a cheese & turkey omelet. I sliced off a third for Mindy. Jacob remained in bed the whole time. Bella, even while sick, was up early with the two of us. I showered and then dressed for work. I was all ready to go come 8:00am. I left for work minutes later.

I arrived to work around 8:20am. We were very busy, and staffing was somewhat pinched. Almost as soon as I arrived at the office I developed a slight twinge in my throat. And given that that was the tell-tale sign of the flu as it relates to Jacob & Bella, it got my immediate attention. I didn’t feel bad at all, however, so I simply shrugged it off and went about my morning like any other. I fetched my pitcher of ice water and also a cup of coffee. Back at my desk the dry cough continued. Uh-oh! It wasn’t bad, and it even subsided for several minutes at a time, but it would eventually return. Around 10:30am I sent Mindy and email indicating as much.

As the morning wore on the cough continued. Yet beyond the cough I felt pretty good. I convinced myself that it was little more than coincidence. I would be fine. The work day progressed. I worked through lunch, eating my packed food from my desk around 2pm. Every now and then I would get a light headed feeling but it would always pass. I attended a late afternoon meeting where my dry cough seemed to intensify. I must’ve talked with Mindy around 4:30pm. I told her of my symptoms. She insisted on having a Tamiflu prescription called in for me too. I didn’t stop her. She also mentioned that we were having grilled steak for dinner. This pleased me much. However, the warmer temperatures from earlier in the day were slowly but surely dropping. While we topped out near 60 earlier in the day, it was already in the 40’s come 5:00pm. I worked until 5:35pm. I arrived home near 6:00pm. The house was in good order and the kids reported that Mindy had already walked Ykraps. Again, this pleased me much. By then, there was little doubt in my mind that I had the flu, too. With each passing hour I continued to slide. My usually minor aches were amplified and the cough only worsened. Still, I wasn’t off my feet sick.

Mindy talked of me missing Wednesday’s work, but I would have nothing to do with it. After cleaning up dinner, Mindy volunteered to go fetch my prescription along with Jacob’s. Tamiflu is a newer flu med that if taken within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms, it significantly reduces the ongoing effects of flu. The way I see it, I have to feel good. That sounded like a good deal.

Mindy was gone for just over 15 minutes. I expected her to be gone longer. As soon as she returned she headed upstairs to give Bella a bath. Jacob didn’t need a shower. He was full of energy and Mindy intimated that he would be going back to school come Wednesday morning. As soon as he caught wind of that noise, his dry cough got worse. :)

I spent the evening hours updating my blog. Around 8:30pm, after tucking in the kids, Mindy & I tuned into American Idol. Meanwhile, my condition seemed to worsen by the minute. As I stretched out on the sofa I got the chills and felt a little feverish. I decided it was time to launch a full assault on the flu. Like the kids, I took Tamiflu, Delsym, and Ibuprofen – something I would never have done prior to meeting Mindy. I just never understood or believed in doubling and even tripling up on meds. But hey, I have to admit, I began feeling considerably better within 20 minutes. Wow!

After Idol (ended at 9pm) Mindy & I watched two episodes of Family Guy on TBS. Needless to say, it was entertaining - mindless humor. We headed up to bed just after 10pm.